090 New Orleans French Quarter 1720

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The map shows a detailed plan of New Orleans, at the start of the French & Indian War, providing a detailed overview of the town, including street names, building locations and the names of important public locations, civilian and military, with a inset key of other place names in the upper left corner. The four major roads into New Orleans are also shown, along with a detailed study of the Mississippi River in 2 insets on the right side of the map. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, New Orleans would become one of 2 French Outposts in North America, after the French conceded their rights to all of their North American colonial possessions, except New Orleans and two important islands for retention of fishing rights in the Grand Banks.

Jefferys' finely executed copy of la Tour's map is one of the earliest obtainable maps of city of New Orleans itself, founded in 1717 by the Sieur d'Iberville. As noted in the title of the map, it is largely based on the original manuscript plan of the city drafted by Pierre Le Blond de la Tour in 1722, and draws also upon Bellin's plan of 1744, which had first appeared in Charlevoix.

The outlines of the buildings are detailed, and major structures are labeled, such as the "Parish Church" of St. Louis, the monastery of the "Capuchin-Fryars", the 'House of the Indendant", and the "Hospital and Convent of the Ursulines," the latter being the oldest building in the city that survives to this day.

In Charting Louisiana, Magill states that Jefferys' map includes several interesting and important details that Mr. de la Tour's map lacked or were constructed after his manuscript was constructed, having primarily to do with flood control, which had been an important problem for the French from the initial years of the City.